Page 30 of Colton's Second Chance
He leaned back on the sofa cushions and watched as she carried her phone across the room to take the call.
“Yes? And what did he find?” Noelle’s face creased with what appeared to be confusion. “Are you sure? But I didn’t have a problem before—” Her face grew pale, her expression stark.
Eli sat forward, alarmed by Noelle’s reaction to her call.
“I see. Yes, of course. Thank you for calling.” She disconnected, then stood with the phone in her hand, staring blankly at the floor.
He shoved to his feet and crossed to her. “What was that about?”
Noelle jerked her head up as if startled to find him there. “I, um…” She shook her head, then took a deep breath. “Do you remember earlier I said I’d had an accident, hit my nose?”
He lifted a finger to the purple smudges still coloring her face. “Which gave you these souvenirs.”
She nodded. “It was a car accident.”
Eli stiffened. “What? When?”
“A few nights ago. I was driving over the mountain ridge to redo the paperwork on Allison’s funeral—that’s another story—and my rental car’s brakes failed. I left the road and hit a tree. Airbag did this. Otherwise, I’m fine. Sore muscles, but fine.”
“Okay,” he said, his tone anything but okay. “So who was that call?”
“The rental company. Their mechanic examined the brakes to determine why they failed.”
“And?” he asked, his gut tightening as if bracing for a blow.
“The brake fluid had drained out. It was fine the first several days I drove it, but…within a few hours of when I wrecked, the brake line had been cut.”
“Cut?”Eli repeated, stunned. Chilled.
Noelle lifted a shaking hand to her mouth. “The mechanic said it was a clean slice, not a tear.”
“Then it was intentional. Someone wanted you to wreck.”
She raised wide frightened eyes to his. “It seems so.”
Chapter 11
Asher arrived a few minutes later and strode into the living room, dividing an all-business look between Noelle and Eli. “All right, what’s going on? Have you made a break in the case?”
After a perfunctory greeting, Noelle turned her back and found a tissue to blow her nose and wipe her face. Asher sent Eli a curious look that silently asked about Noelle’s emotional state.
Eli debated telling his partner about Noelle’s accident and the cause, but until he figured out if and how it fit in with the Fiancée Killer case, he wouldn’t distract his partner with it. Eli would keep a close eye on Noelle himself, while Asher focused on the new twists to the murder investigation.
He led Asher to the kitchen table where Noelle’s laptop and paperwork were still spread out, and he walked Asher through her findings. Eli covered what he’d learned after speaking to the experts in Seattle and the incriminating evidence that Scott’s work was significantly skewed.
Throughout Eli’s explanation to his partner, Noelle hovered close by, nodding her confirmation whenever Asher looked to her in stunned disbelief.
When Eli finished spelling everything out, Asher’s expression reflected the same shock and righteous anger that had racked Eli since he’d learned the news. Asher huffed his exasperation and slapped a palm on the tabletop.
“That son of a—” Asher cut his eyes to Noelle and swallowed the rest of the epithet. Taking a moment, his jaw tight, Asher asked, “Have you confronted Montgomery yet?”
“No. I wanted you to be in the loop first. And we need to proceed carefully. This is volatile stuff. Until we get an explanation from him, we can’t fly off the handle, or—”
“Or punch him in his geeky, coffee-guzzling face?”
Eli chuffed a humorless laugh. “I know how you feel, but before we blow this case up, we need to be sure we’re reading this right and not making false assumptions. We should build our case before we confront him. This—” he waved his hand at the laptop “—may have a legitimate explanation.”
Asher arched an eyebrow. “Really? I think there are only two possible explanations. He’s covering for the killer, or he’s incompetent in his job. Both are pretty damning for Montgomery.”
